Mairi Young is a PhD student at the University of Glasgow, researching why people are scared of the dentist (sort of). She is also a foodie and self-confessed junk food lover, blogging over at The Weegie Kitchen.

1. Having to explain to your Mum, for the fiftieth time, no you’re not writing an essay.
2. Having to explain to your Mum, yet again, that a Viva is not just an exam.
3. Having to explain to your Mum a PhD is a real job.
4. Asking your Mum to just stop asking about your PhD.
5. Sneaking out Leaving the office at 6pm and feeling guilty.
6. That twinge of guilt over the sheer amount of paper you print on a weekly basis.
7. Feeling sad that you’ve single-handedly destroyed a rainforest by doing a Systematic Literature Review.
8. Bringing your laptop and papers home for the weekend/holidays/trip abroad (tick all that apply) but never actually opening the bag and feeling its judgmental glare the entire time so you can’t fully relax.
   

   Source: PHD comics

9. Batch cooking on a Sunday for the week ahead and feeling like you have won at life because you’re so organised.
10. Eating microwaved lasagne for lunch and dinner for the 4^th day running and wondering why you ever thought batching cooking was a good idea.
11. Quietly loathing the postdocs who can afford fancy ready meals for lunch.
12. Hating compulsory seminars.
13. Attending compulsory seminars because offer free sandwiches and it’s an escape from microwaved lasagne for the 5^th day running.
14. Stocking up on free sandwiches at free seminars.
    

    Source: PHD Comics

15. Feeling flush when you buy prosecco from Aldi.
16. Eating crisps in the office by placing each crisp on your tongue and patiently waiting for it to dissolve because you don’t wanna be that person.
17. Feeling super smart when you use words like epistemology and ontology.
18. Feeling like a dunce when you have to explain the meaning of these words.
19. Writing your acknowledgements page and wiping away a tear because it’s very Gwyneth Paltrow at the Oscars circa 1999.
20. Watching as your office uniform goes from suit jacket to hoodies swiftly in the final six months (or the first six weeks).
21. Its 3 months till completion and you can’t remember the last time you ate a vegetable.
    

    Source: http://www.perceptionvsfact.com/

22. Applying for post-doc positions with a 37.5-hour working week and realising (very soon) you will no longer have to work an 80-hour week.
23. Daydreaming about all the productive things you’ll do with these extra 40 hours a week.
24. Realising you’ll probably just use it to catch up on sleep and your laundry pile.
25. Realising that postdocs work an 80-hour week too.